Iron Man: The Forest, the Button, and Beatrice
by Lucretia Debrev
Summary: Tony's thoughts as Obadiah removes the electromagnet from Ton'y chest (etc.). Tony thinks about his own helplessness, the human soul, and the people he's loved and lost, his parents and Yinsen, and the one person in his life still alive to love and cherish: Pepper Potts.


"Oh Tony, look at that."

Obadiah Stane held up the one thing that was supposed to be keeping him alive. Tony had a surreal moment where he was convinced he was in a dream. The idea that this glowing thing was out of his chest when it wasn't supposed to be seemed impossible.

"Isn't it _beautiful?_"

And suddenly, with that pronounced word, Tony Stark felt as weak and helpless as he did the first month in the cave. He was helpless, hopeless, and all he was worth then was a piece of machinery, and an idea. Just like now. He wasn't a person...he was property. A tool with no say in what it was used for or who owned it-his mind had been the Ten Ring's property, and his electromagnet was Obadiah's.

"This is your _legacy_."

_This is all you're worth. This piece of junk. Your life is worth an electromagnet the size of Pepper Pott's fist. _

_You were nothing in the cave, a box for an idea, a weapon. And now you're transport for precious cargo. _

",,,Generation of weapons with _this_ at its _heart_."

The absence of the electromagnet made his whole body feel like it had been frozen and hollowed out. HIs body was like the iron suite he'd built, it was like the cave he'd been imprisoned in for months without daylight. His soul...how could one tell what a soul was? Was it through pain-and pain alone? Surely physical pain was proof of something more-something underneath. Like him being inside the iron suite. Alone, the suite was useless, and in the wrong hands, the suite was dangerous. Could the same thing apply to people and their bodies…? Could….could….

He thought about the Shades from Dante's Inferno. They were people who were not fully alive, but not fully dead, and they could not reach Paradise because of their predicament. It felt eerily similar to his own. He was still alive, but he felt dead.

Here was this man standing over him, exalting his power and ability to move and breathe without and pain, and Tony felt disgusted at the thought of this man being the last person to see him alive. If he'd chosen any time to die in his life, he would've picked two moments: his parents car accident, or dying alongside Yinsen.

_Wouldn't it have been better that way...To have just died...You were never worth anything to anyone-not even your enemies, not really...One of the Talibans once threatened to shoot you over how you did the laundry...Obadiah….to him….you're...nothing. Nothing, Stark, you're worth nothing. _

Tony would never admit it to anyone, but he did believe in God. He believed in God because he believed in Heaven. And he believed in Heaven because he had to believe that his parents, and Yinsen were somewhere, happy and contented.

It had long since began to hurt to breathe. He was past that now. No, now he was beginning to see black patches. His throat had tightened up, his head was pounding in a slow throb, and with each throb the breathing hurt a little more.

For a moment, he was not in his house, laying next to a fire, dying, for a moment he was in a dark forest. He could see the sun, and more specifically, the silhouettes of his parents. The sun was not golden, it was flourescent, like the electromagnet. He started to follow them. They motioned for him to walk towards him, but they didn't say anything. He couldn't hear them over the ringing in his ears.

But like a shot of espresso or adrenaline-he didn't want to. Why? Because over the ringing, over the desire to follow the one's he'd lost to some place without pain, he heard one solitary word that pulled him back, that pulled him out of the forest, and made him forget the agony he was in. Pepper.

"_To bad you had to involve _**Pepper** _in this. I would've preferred she live." _

"_What's your social security number?"_

"_I'm not going to watch you kill yourself. I won't be a part of it." _

"_You're all i have too, you know."_

As soon as Obadiah was a blurr, Tony made his way slowly, towards the elevator.

Once he was inside, he put all of his weight on one side. He was drenched in sweat, but he was shivering.

_I'm so weak-_

"_I forgot to put on deodorant." _

Tony laughed faintly at the memory of Pepper's trivial concern over her appearance. She was beautiful….

But his thoughts were running together. He remembered laughing, but he couldn't remember the reason.

_You're laughing...that's not a good sign….you're losing….your….mind….Stark….Stark...Stark…._

"_Stark Industries has made yet another great machine for Stark Industries Mister and Mrs. Stark died in a terrible car accident Tony Stark returns home safely _

_Can I take a picture with you don't touch the settings just take the pic-_

"PROOF THAT TONY STARK HAS A HEART."

He could see it. His mechanical heart with large letters all over it. What did it say exactly? He couldn't think of what the letters spelled, he couldn't….

_Ah, Falling not good. _

But he did fall, like a tree in the forest. And no one was there to hear him fall.

_"You are _slow_, Mr. Stark. Finish my machine or I will kill you both tomorrow." _

And suddenly his anger drove him forward. It wasn't just Pepper. It was also anger. Anger driven by the desire to prove everyone wrong. He was worth something, he wasn't just an idea or a magnet to be bartered.

"_You are _slow_, Mister Stark. _

_You think just because you have an idea it _belongs _to you?_

_Son, you may be trying, but that's not good enough. You've got to be _fast_. Fast, you hear?" _

_I'll show you Raza...I'll show you, Dad. I'll get up and I'll finish what you started-you wanted the company to run like a well oiled machine, so I'll dismantle it and rebuild a better machine….Like the Romans with their navy... And as for you, Obadiah, here's an idea that you never heard come out of my mouth: I'm going to kill you the first chance I get..._

He crawled to his desk. Used some junk he'd left on the floor as a prop, and reached for his electromagnet-the oil that would keep the tin man from rusting.

But it was too late...he reached...his hand slipped….

"_Don't waste it. Don't waste your life. It's a gift." _

He could've sworn it was in his mind. It was auditory hallucination. But it wasn't. Tony saw the electromagnet before his eyes in the little claw of the robot that was next to useless when he consciously needed it.

He began to read the large letters again, as if to double check this was the _right_ electromagnet, as if if it were a hallucination it _wouldn't_ say "PROOF THAT TONY STARK HAS A HEART."

"Good boy."

He wasn't sure why he said that-he smashed the glass around his 'heart'. He was glad it wasn't a very loud sound at first, until he realized the fact he could barely hear breaking glass was a bad thing.

He finally put the magnet in place and it was like breathing in oxygen after holding one's breath too long.

"...She's fine, she's with five other agents. They're going to arrest Obadiah now."

_(There is a distinct difference between "fine" and "safe" though!) _

_I need to put on the suite. Now. i don't have time to recuperate. I've got to be fast. _

"But you'll die!"

_Ironically, Pepper, you will end up playing a part in my death after all...if you'd pushes the damn button!_

"Just PUSH IT!"

He didn't have time to see anyone he loved. His life didn't flash before his eyes. He wasn't in a forest, or in a cave with Ho Yinsen. He hit his head very hard and...nothing. Everything was black. it didn't fade into black, it just was. Like flipping off a light switch or blowing out a candle.

But once everything was darkness...

"_Son, you may be trying, but that's not good enough. You've got to be fast. Fast, you hear?" You gotta be fast or I'm going to beat you to the ice cream stand!" _

"_I'll buy you some time. I'll buy you some time because you are my friend." _

"_You are slow, Mister Stark. For all your genius...you are slow." _

"_You know you're all I have too…." _

"Well, off you go. Your course is set for uncharted seas."

"Pepper what did you just say?"

"I said you course is set for-"

"I know, I know, but where did you pull that from?"

"Dante's Paradise. It was originally in first person of course, but….what? What is it? Why are you...smiling like that?"

"No reason. I'll see you after all this," he said motioning to the tv and Miss Potts had turned around to write something down on her notepad, "Beatrice."

She gave him a small smile, understanding the reference, and when she looked back at her notepad, he was gone.


End file.
